Marriage Advice #2

Hi Eat, Drink and Be Married Readers! I'm so excited to share my post with you

today!

My name is Paige and I blog over at The Eloping Stethoscope where I blog about my

newlywed life mixed with nursing school.

I want to share some of my tips with you guys for having a happy marriage.

Cody and I met just last year on a blind date...sort of. We were really just back ups

so that our friends didn't feel so awkward going out by themselves and we were both

dragged along. We hit it off right away and we literally talked all night long. The next

day, we saw each other again and it kept going just like that.

Eventually, I brought him over to my mom's to go swimming. He claims that I

really wanted him to meet my family, but I just really wanted to go swimming. Hah.

Anyway, my family insisted that he really liked me and you could tell by the way he

acted around me. Of course, I brushed it off.

Not even a week later, he had to go to annual training for the army. Before, our

agreement had been that we wouldn't see each other much after that because he was

going to be busy with the army and possibly getting deployed and going to nursing

school.

One night, we had been drinking a bit and hanging out with friends when he let it

slip that he really liked me and wanted to be with me. Of course, the next day he

didn't remember so a couple of nights later, I drank a little bit and insisted that we be

together. He agreed and of course I remembered the next day.

We didn't see each other while he was away at training, but when we got back it was

the same as before he left. Just three months after meeting and dating, we moved in

together.

Two months after that, on Christmas Day, he proposed and I said yes.

Our original plan was to get married in May 2013 but we decided that it wasn't what

we wanted and we decided to elope in Gatlinburg, TN in May of this year. It was

wonderful and perfect and exactly what we wanted.

Getting our marriage license!

Now that you know a bit of background, I'm going to give you my tips to a happy

marriage, no matter how long you've been together. Of course, I can't say I'm an

expert on marriage, but I have been around the block a time or two when it comes to

serious relationships!

This is how Cody and I make sure we stay happy in our relationship and our marriage.

1. Be realistic about what you want in a relationship. Don't give into lofty ideas of

a wonderfully, romantic man because it's not likely to happen. Men aren't fairytale

princes. They don't even know how to act like one, because they likely didn't watch

fairy tales when they were younger. Instead, decide for yourself what you can

compromise on and what you can't. This will go a long way in any relationship, not

just a marriage.

2. Always make time to go on dates. Between school for both of us, army, cooking,

cleaning and other obligations, you can imagine that Cody and I don't always have

true quality time together. After a date night, even if it's something simple, we always

feel refreshed and more in love than before.

Looking up drugs in the drug book for nursing school

3. Have fun together. What's the best recent night that you can remember? Mine is

pretty simple. Cody and I watched "21 Jumpstreet" and we laughed our butts off and

then ended up talking about dumb things we did as teenagers. Eventually, we were

laughing and he was tickling me and I was showing him how I used to do flips on my

bed when I was little kid. It was seriously the best night and we were totally refreshed

the next day.

Hanging out on Beale St

4. Pick your battles. This is probably the cardinal rule. Do you think it doesn't bug

me that Cody throws his jeans on the floor when he comes home? Or that he insists

on having two rolls of toilet paper out in the bathroom at all times? It actually drives

me insane, but I don't nag him and that makes us both a lot happier. He doesn't feel

like he's always having someone on his case and I don't automatically focus on the

negative things that he does.

5. This one is going to sound lame and kind of crazy, but it works. I promise. When

we are mad at each other, we inevitably want to say something mean and hurtful,

instead, we say "I love you." I heard about it once in relation to siblings and basically

when they are mad at each other, make them say I love you until they mean it. It's

kind of the same with us except we don't literally say it over and over. Usually, one

of us will say it in a mean voice and then start laughing. It makes us realize that the

argument we are having is completely ridiculous because we really do love each other

more than anything else and no argument is going to change that.

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